Drawn from a database of 2,500 publicly traded companies with $100 million in revenue, what follows is a list of the firms most adept at managing information for competitive advantage. These companies, which range in size and industry, are ranked by Information Productivity, an indicator that gauges how a company manages what has become its most important asset—its information. In the information economy, what a company knows about itself, its customers and its market can be the difference between thriving and diving.
| Rank | Company name | Description | Net sales ($M) | Est. transaction costs ($M) | Income before extra items ($M) | IVA* ($M) | Information Productivity (%) |
| 1 | Washington REIT | Real Estate Investment Trust | $164 | $5 | $45 | $44 | 840.2% |
| 2 | Chesapeake Energy Corp. | Crude Petroleum, Natural Gas | $1,717 | $24 | $311 | $166 | 700.7% |
| 3 | Valero LP | Pipelines, Natural Gas | $181 | $8 | $70 | $47 | 618.7% |
| 4 | Carmike Cinemas | Motion Picture Theaters | $493 | $15 | $107 | $93 | 607.6% |
| 5 | Eagle Materials | Concrete, Gypsum, Plaster Products | $427 | $6 | $58 | $335 | 590.0% |
| 6 | Apache Corp. | Crude Petroleum, Natural Gas | $4,199 | $139 | $1,095 | $731 | 527.7% |
| 7 | Stone Energy Corp. | Crude Petroleum, Natural Gas | $508 | $15 | $133 | $78 | 527.4% |
| 8 | HomeFed Corp. | Real Estate Developer | $148 | $12 | $74 | $62 | 511.6% |
| 9 | Houston Exploration | Crude Petroleum, Natural Gas | $493 | $20 | $134 | $95 | 487.7% |
| 10 | Encore Acquisition | Crude Petroleum, Natural Gas | $220 | $9 | $63 | $44 | 478.2% |
| 11 | MoneyGram Intl. | Business Services | $1,572 | $13 | $112 | $58 | 461.1% |
| 12 | Prentiss Properties Trust | Real Estate Investment Trust | $359 | $11 | $64 | $46 | 417.5% |
| 13 | Evergreen Resources | Crude Petroleum, Natural Gas | $215 | $15 | $73 | $58 | 396.5% |
| 14 | Catellus Development Corp. | Real Estate Investment Trust | $535 | $56 | $228 | $204 | 365.6% |
| 15 | Kinder Morgan Energy | Natural Gas Transmission | $6,624 | $150 | $694 | $548 | 364.6% |
| 16 | VSE Corp. | Engineering Services | $134 | $0.352 | $2 | $1 | 355.3% |
| 17 | Devon Energy Corp. | Crude Petroleum, Natural Gas | $7,352 | $307 | $1,731 | $979 | 318.7% |
| 18 | Denbury Resources | Crude Petroleum, Natural Gas | $394 | $11 | $54 | $35 | 316.3% |
| 19 | Cincinnati Bell | Local Telecommunications | $1,558 | $342 | $1,246 | $1,076 | 314.7% |
| 20 | Kaneb Pipe Line Partners | Petroleum Bulk Stations | $570 | $25 | $84 | $75 | 299.0% |
| 21 | Petroleum Development | Crude Petroleum, Natural Gas | $199 | $5 | $23 | $14 | 289.9% |
| 22 | UnitedGlobalCom | Communications Services | $1,892 | $532 | $1,995 | $1,513 | 284.6% |
| 23 | Delta Financial Corp. | Mortgages & Loans | $110 | $23 | $67 | $66 | 280.8% |
| 24 | American Real Estate Partners | Hotel & Motel Operator | $231 | $14 | $61 | $39 | 278.0% |
| 25 | Washington Federal | Savings Institution | $462 | $36 | $146 | $91 | 254.5% |
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